Who should be the new CEO based on the below story and candidates?

AIRSOPAC is a successful airline that was founded in the United States. Its 105 aircraft make 725 daily flights and serve ninety-eight cities ands locales in California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Micronesia, and Melanesia, including such exotic destinations as Tahiti, Tonga, and Fiji as well as Papua, New Guinea; Auckland, New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia. AIRSOPAC uses airports at three locations as hubs: Ontario, California (near Los Angeles); Honolulu; and American Samoa. Over the next decade the airline plans to replace its present fleet of aircraft with new, fuel-efficient Boeing 787 and DeHavilands. This program will cost almost two billion dollars during the first phase of implementation, which is scheduled to end in three years. The airline also plans to extend service within five years to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Shanghai, and Tokyo. The new aircraft to be ordered will make it technically possible to extend the service. However, a myriad of details concerning legal, financial, marketing, operational, political, and international issues must be thought through before the extension can become a reality. The satisfactory completion of this planning and its implementation are a challenging task for top management, particularly in an environment in which financing is difficult to obtain and competition for customers is fierce. The picture is further complicated by the existence of foreign-government-owned airlines that fly to various destinations that AIRSOPAC services or plans to service. The chief executive officer (CEO) of AIRSOPAC retires in ninety days after thirty-five years with the company. A group of seven possible replacements from within the corporation has been identified by the board of directors. The issue of replacement has been studied for a long time, and now that all the important facts are at hand, a decision is imminent. You are a member of the board of directors. The boards immediate task is to choose the next CEO, who will have the title of president. The chairman of the board at AIRSOPAC deals strictly with matters of long-range policy and relationships with the financial committee of the board of directors. Therefore, the CEO must be someone who can marshal the human and other resources of AIRSOPAC so that its mission for the future will be fulfilled. In the process of choosing the CEO, the board must also identify that persons most likely replacement, who would serve as an interim president in the event that the CEO died suddenly or was temporarily incapacitated. The board members choices of a CEO and an alternate must be unanimous. Another important point to keep in mind is that the company has had a good record in equal-employment opportunity and affirmative action, although it has attained this record only through great effort on the part of top management. There are seven candidates for the position of CEO. These individuals, whose biographical sketches follow, are long-service managerial employees of the company. Each has the present rank of vice president of a division or a staff department. They are peers. All have had distinguished records of performance in recent years and successful overall careers to date.

1. Robert K. Andrews: Sixty-year-old white male. Career pattern is balanced among marketing, finance, operations, and high-level general management. B.A., University of California at Los Angeles. Married. Three grown children, one of whom is a leader in the San Francisco homosexual community. Recently bought a second home in Tucson. Health is excellent. Under consideration for a Cabinet position in Washington as Secretary of Commerce. Built and possesses a famous collection of Oriental postage stamps. Considered an outstanding, well-rounded manager with high leadership qualifications. Has no corporate enemies and much subordinate support. Keeps his political views to himself. Twenty- five years in the company. 2. Harold R. Bennett: Thirty-nine-year-old white male. Career as an aerospace engineer, a successful airline entrepreneur, and a general manager B.S., Cornell; M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Divorced twice. Five children under fifteen years of age. Occasionally becomes extremely intoxicated off the job. Active in the National Rifle Association and the Republican Partys conservative wing. Founded and was CEO of a very financially successful airline in Hawaii that was bought out by AIRSOPAC and absorbed in the early nineties. Very popular and well liked. Nine years in the company. 3. Franklin Cavender: Forty-two-year-old black male. Career as a financial and strategic planner with four years of exposure to operations at the Ontario hub B.A., Fisk University; M.B.A., Harvard Business School. Married. Two teenage daughters. Likes motorcycles. Has not had a health examination for five years, but has no apparent problems. Wife is a television newscaster with a national reputation. Considered a brilliant planner by all top managers, many of whom seek his counsel regularly. Would consider obtaining the CEO job to be the capstone of his career. Politically independent, but tends to take liberal positions. Eleven years in the company. 4. Joanne DeBernardo: Forty-four-year-old white female. Career as the corporate counsel. Also served as the head of the federal Aviation Agency for three years while on leave from the company. B.A., Vassar; LL.B., Yale; LL.M. (in taxation), New York University. Married. One child at West Point. Second husband is a multimillionaire scion of an established, well -known West Coast family and is eight years her junior. Master at bridge. Health status is unknown. Appears to have a high energy level and jogs two miles daily. Has traveled to fifty-two countries. Speaks Japanese fluently. Dresses conservatively. Considered very innovative and likable by employees at all levels. Conservative Democrat. Fifteen years in the company. 5. Edward J. Edgerton: Fifty-five-year-old white male. Career as the chief financial officer. Extensive experience in marketing. B.B.A., Northwestern; Ph.D. (in statistics), University of Chicago. Recently remarried widower. Five grown children and stepchildren. Completed psychoanalysis two years ago. Frequently testifies before Congress on the regulation of airline industry. Ran for the United States House of Representatives six years ago as a Republican and lost a close race. Was born and brought up in the Philippines; family was interned there during World War II. Considered a serious but affable colleague and leader. In his spare time is writing a book entitled The Economics and Politics of American Air Transportation. Twenty-two years in the company. 6. John Arthur Fullmer: Forty-seven-year-old white male. Citizen of New Zealand. Career as an international general manager with a solid knowledge of operations in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia. B.A. with honors, Otago (New Zealand). Divorced. No plans to remarry and no children. Reports being in debt because of divorce. Likes traveling in the South Pacific And has toured every major island group. Pilots his own plane. Had a heart attack several years ago, but has recovered well and plays excellent tennis today. Considered by some to be a crown prince to the CEO job because of his business accomplishments in the Southern Hemisphere. Throughout his career has been highly regarded by superiors, peers, and subordinates, almost to the point that he is bigger than life. Plans to become an American citizen. Nineteen years in the company. 7. Ernest Skip Gehrig: Forty-nine-year-old white male. Career as a general manager with in-depth knowledge of operations at all hubs. Studied for three years in the famous P.P.E. (politics, philosophy, and economics) program at the London School of Economics. Six years later obtained a law degree by attending night school in Los Angeles, but never practiced law. Married to the daughter of the former president of Malaysia. Two grown children. Father was a co-founder of AIRSOPAC. Recovered alcoholic has skin cancer, but it is under control. Eight years ago was corporate vice president of personnel, but did not take the job seriously and performed poorly, considering the field rinky dink. Was removed from the job by the board and then resigned from the board, perhaps is retaliation. Has twice absented himself from the company (on unpaid leave) to travel and study the economic potential of tourism in Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, and other Pacific islands. Knows well many cultures of the islands because of his extensive travels. A maverick Democrat. Well liked. Dines occasionally at the White House with the President of the United States, who is a personal friend. Twenty- two years in the company